At least a portion of coke produced in a hearth-type furnace is fed into an activation reactor, and at least a portion of the waste gas from the hearth-type furnace is fed to the activation reactor to act as a heating gas and/or an activation gas for the coke feed. Hot waste gas from the activation reactor is passed to a waste-heat boiler. Active coke which has at least partially lost its adsorption capacity may be fed into the furnace in mixture with the coal or alone, or it may be fed directly into the activation reactor for re-activation of the coke.